I don’t know where to start, but I feel like I just need to throw out a few thoughts about this Obama/pastor scandal.
1. Beware of reports conflating quotes.
There are a number of sound bites and clips circulating regarding this scandal. I will not rehash. What I will point out is that every comment if being thrown in together. Wright stated that America is run by “rich White people.” This comment is being lumped with AIDS being used for genocide along with the other inflammatory remarks being aired en masse.
I bring this up to say that we can’t always believe the hype. While some of what Wright said is extreme, the fact that America is run by rich White people is not far from the truth. Have we had anything but White males as president? No. They were also men of means and a great deal of access. Even if we wanted to argue about the wealth of presidents, we could simply focus on presidents being White and male. Before we deem everything that comes out of the man’s mouth as inflammatory, let’s make sure we actually hear what is being said rather than simply reacting based on other quotes.
2. Consider the implications of “guilty by association.”
Are we going to hold everyone responsible for all of their acquaintances? I surely hope not. Could you run for office and answer for the comments of your outspoken uncle, provocative grandfather or your zany cousin? We have to be careful about how we allow standards to change for how we judge people. If Obama is responsible for the comments of his pastor, surely we should also hold McCain responsible for the comments of his mother (after all, they have had a close relationship). It seems like a slippery slope to me.
3. Recognize the power of language.
I just want to draw attention to how it was only today that I began to hear so much talk about how the White male vote is going to decide this election since (of course) Blacks will vote for Obama and women for Clinton. This assertion is a gross oversimplification, but that is another post. Anyway, I refer back to point #1- the fact that we have begun to see this election- where for the first time in history it seems highly likely that the democratic candidate and very possibly the next president of the US could be Black or a women (i.e. power would shift away from White men), the rhetoric has conveniently shifted to claiming that White males will be the key to the election. I contend that the emergence of this new rhetoric is a mechanism to shift the power back to where it has been. For as much as we say we are ready for a change in this country, we sure seem comfortable with maintaining the status quo.
1 comment:
amen amen amen!!! people in my office were having a heated debate about this (which i avoided because i still have to work with these people and they were pissed off at eachother for having different opinions!) BUT, to your point, i also think its crazy that there is this joke that he's getting the luxe treatment by the media and hills is getting slammed but i have to say that i think he's getting questioned WAY more for stuff that is OFF topic than she is...i mean do we know her middle name or what church she goes to and all that? (nope b/c it DOESN'T matter!) also amen to the oversimplified assumption that black people are going vote for obama and women are going to vote for clinton JUST cuz they are black and women respectively. hopefully in the end somehow the masses of american people will prove that they are much smarter than the media gives us credit for.
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